Ruben Navarrette, Jr., 39, is a member of the editorial board of The San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group whose twice-a-week column appears in nearly 200 newspapers.

He has offered commentary and analysis on National Public Radio and, he's a recovering radio talk show host who, in 1994, co-hosted a daily radio show in Los Angeles with Tavis Smiley, and has since hosted radio shows in Phoenix, Dallas and his hometown -- Fresno, CA.

He contributes to USA TODAY, and he writes twice-per-month commentaries on CNN.COM.

He has appeared on "CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight," "CNN's Inside Politics," "The Chris Matthews Show," "The O'Reilly Factor" and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

He's a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a Masters' in Public Administration. He's the author of "A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano" (Bantam, 1993).

He's a popular speaker on the national lecture circuit, having addressed dozens of audiences.

Navarrette lives in the San Diego area with his wife and their infant daughter.